With one foot
by SpeaksInRiddles
Summary: ... out of the grave. Features Fem!MoD!Harry, gray!immortal!DM HM RWn. Mass X-over The final battle was won, but the war itself lost. When Death Eater activity rose, the Statue of Secrecy was shattered in the worst way possible, causing witch-hunts to return. When it came to the point the world began dying, the last four trained magicals jumped ship. Their adventures, who knows?
1. Chapter 1

**AN+DISCLAIMER:** I own neither the Harry Potter franchise, nor most of the worlds this will likely get cross-overed with. I'm making the story up as I go, if only to get he plunnies moving again, but this will also mean a drop in quality until I've gotten enough to rewrite it. hints, tips and constructive criticism are most welcome.

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"You do know", Draco began dryly, "This is an even worse idea than the completely hypothetical time a certain group of gryphindorks that I most certainly will not name out of plausible deniability, escaped Gringotts on a blind dragon, after robbing my aunt's vault."

Ron send a dirty look his way, while Harry and Hermione ignored the guys, in favour of working on the ritual circle that covered both the floor and walls of the Chamber of secrets. "It's not like we have another choice, Malfoy, and you agreed to take part despite it!", came the snapped reply.

Draco shrugged at that answer, "I know, I know. I just wanted my objection to be noted."

They had come together for one, and one thing only. A new chance in life. Voldemort may have been defeated, certainly, but that did not take away the fact that the remnants of that faction, did not die with their lord. The war raged on, and as both sides grew increasingly desperate, increasingly violent, the Statue of Secrecy was broken, shattered to pieces.

If it had happened differently, the two worlds might have been able to merge relatively peaceful. Having been caught on camera multiple times however, both while attacking, and obliviating, the public cried out for blood. And they got it , whether it be pure or impure. Wizarding, half -or muggle born.

While it was only a minority of the public that blamed them unconditionally, the witch hunts had begun anew, despite attempts from the government to stop them. Too many innocents had died already, and even more would die in these retaliation-strike. And they did, they definitely did. Die that is. All this fighting, it was killing the planet.

Caught in the middle as they were, Harry, who had been unable to separate from the Hallows, since she had been declared the Master of Death, did everything she could to stop them, but it wasn't enough, would never be enough. Searching for more time, for smaller costs, and implausible chances, she had found a tome in the Peverell vault, written by the previous Master of Death himself, before he granted the three Hallows to his sons.

Harry had tried to do the same, giving Ron the Elder Wand, Hermione the Resurrection Stone, and her former rival and-kind-of-but-not-really lover the Invisibility Cloak. It did nothing though, nothing but make them as eternal as she herself was, as long as she choose for them to be. Having infinite time did lessen their fervour and sense of urgency a little, but not enough to stop researching.

As connected with magic as they had become, they could feel the world dying, its life fading slowly, even as it attempted to retaliate against the ones destroying her. It was then that they stumbled upon a ritual that was near-perfect for what they had in mind. It would grand them access to the navel of the world, the gate to Yggdrasil, the origin of everything.

The choice to go through with it or not, would have been a lot harder to make, had they not lost everything already. The only thing they had was each other, in an increasingly violent and dying world.

"Done", Hermione tiredly exclaimed after she connected the last few segments to the main circle. "Have you gotten everything memorized Harry..."

The 'teen' in question interrupted her, "YES", she stated impatiently, "No offense Hermione, but we've gone over this over a hundred of times." Hermione blinked stupidly. Pepper-up potions might work well on the body, but it was clear she hadn't slept in three days, with how sluggish her thoughts and responses were. She opened her mouth, and closed it again. She finally settled for a "Sorry, go ahead." And so they did.

With the three bearers standing in the designated places, Harry walked to the middle of the circle. Willing her hand to bleed, the wound appeared, and she smacked it down. The circle began to absorb the blood, and while Harry focused on pouring her magic into it, the three others were responsible for choosing an appropriate realm to move too.

"Let there be peace", Hermione stated, in a voice not quite her own.

She was followed by Draco, "Let there be magic", was his demand, which had the same ethereal quality to it.

Last came Ron, who too, spoke the empowered words needed, "Let there be acceptance."

Having poured all the power she could spare in the circle, which was admittedly quite a lot, Harry willed the Dimensional Gate to open, speaking the arcane words needed. Having called upon and stabilized the portal, they had only a few minutes before it closed on them. Not that they needed that much, having all their supplies ready already.

On October 31st of the year 2593 the last four trained wizards and witches, left this world behind with only the slightest hints of hesitation.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: This first new world is a bit obscure, but I love it anyway xD. I wonder if anyone will get it before the third chapter ^^

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the franchises blended together in this mishmash of dimensional travel.

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Harlequin 'Call me Harry' Potter groggily opened her eyes. and wormed her way out of the pile-up of bodies. Had she mentioned she really, really hated magical transportation. Well, save for a broom, but even those could become rather unpleasant after a while, cushioning charms do only go so far.

She was moderately surprised she was the first to get up. After all, while the others had given direction to the gate spell, she was the one who had to power it.

Nevertheless, they shouldn't stay out in the open like this, so with a quick look around, she raised her hand in the direction of the other three and intoned 'Aquamenti" under her breathe. The three following yelps were like music to her ears, she was a prankster after all.

This was a fact that the others were all to aware off, as they only shot her a few dirty looks, instead of asking why.

"Okay guys", she practically demanded, "Sorry about the water..."

This evoked a few snorts and eye rolls, as her smug grin conveyed her true feelings on the matter.

"...Buuuuut... We really need to scout a little, and since I'm on the brink of magical exhaustion, you can't plausibly expect me to do all the work while you guys are sleeping your asses off.." She took a deep breathe and began, "Ron, Draco I want you to do some aerial reconnaissance. Ron, use a disillusionment charm.", she didn't bother to tell Draco to do the same, since he was the one she had granted the Cloak to. He didn't even have to bother with wearing it, as it had merged with his essence, and all he needed to do was 'switch' it on. "

Hermione, I want you to call up the souls of the dead, I'd do it myself, but right now I'm running empty. We need information about the locals, pronto."

Hermione yawned, before nodding. "On it"

After 5 centuries together, each one of them already knew the drill, But it was.. nice?, no a better word would be familiar. It grounded them. This little piece of normalcy, of humanity, where there could so very easily be none.

Harry herself would work on a barrier, for the lack of a better word. She only had to spread some of her essence to the air around her and infuse it with her powers over death. Normally it wouldn't have drained her much already, but this world was thriving with magic, reducing the cost to even less.. Rather than a barrier, this was more similar to a SEP-field. Except for the fact that it played on fear, instead of blissful indifference. Beings would would sense Death in the air, and it would play on their basest of instincts.

With that done she started to set up the good old enchanted tent that had seen them through the many years. There were clearly patches of another fabric in places that had been repaired, but the enhancements still ran strong, despite its age. While she had been setting up, Hermione finished her initial round of questions to the death.

"According to the woman I summoned", Hermione began, "This world, Azuria is split into three realms. We're in the subrealm Terra. The realm of mortals, their version of Earth if you like", she explained, "The other two are similar to Heaven and Hell respectively, to continue in that vein."

"She seemed to be pretty surprised after asking about our origins. Apparently Dimensional Incursions tend to be ended before they begin. I reckon it is because we are avatars of a natural force instead of true outsiders."

She paused and drank some water from the flacon on her waist. "

The Church is one of the most powerful factions of this world. Some of the others belong to races like dwarves, Makar, Varan and the like. There is also the Sanknie alliance, which is basically a merchant's guild. The church also seems to be doing a good job about regulating the realm, although recently problems have arisen with the defection of their main trouble shooter."

She sighed, "It seems our specifications were not specific enough, because the Church seems to be gearing up for war. They certainly ordered enough supplies and equipment for it, and they have made alliances with the other main factions, against the threat that this man poses..."

It was at this point that the vegetation rustled and Ron and Draco came out, with an unconscious girl on the former's back. Ron scratched his neck sheepishly, "She kind of ran into me while I was flying", he said, preempting the question. "We figured that we might as well take the kid back, instead of leaving her for death in a forest with hostile creatures."

Harry sighed, but her saving-people thing was still overpowered her sense of self-preservation after all these years.. "Alright, put her in the tent.", she said dryly. "In the meantime I want to ask you _how one can run into you while you're flying_..."


	3. Chapter 3

Ron rolled his eyes, "It's not like she could see me", he said sarcastically. "As for the 'How' of it, she seemed to be in a glide of sorts, and I happened to be at the wrong place, at a wrong time." He shrugged, "You know the rest of the story."

Someone coughed behind him, "Well, most of it anyway", Ron amended, "Gang, meet an avatar of Tigerius Ceasar", he said motioning at the giant feline that had now entered the their line of side. "The hate he feels towards his given name manages to equal and possibly even surpasses both you and Tonks, so just call him Tigerius or Ceasar for now. He's a companion spirit of some kind."

He paused before continuing, "I'm going to take you up on that offer by the way, The Featherlight charm doesn't seem able to stick for longer than 20 seconds. And while she isn't THAT heavy, she's not exactly light either."

Ron left for the tent after sharing that decision with the rest of them. "

So", Harry asked the giant cat neutrally, "Would you have any idea where we are? We're a bit lost, and while I wouldn't necessarily call the way we met a good thing, You guys are a heaven-send."

She seemed to come to a realization, causing her lips to twitch a little, "Pun not intended."

The feline eyed her warily, but since her question was neither personal, offensive or sensitive, he saw fit to answer. "Cactakara Forest", he rumbled, before returning to his silence. His eyes, while alert, wandered, and Harry saw that as a sign that he wouldn't talk any further without further prompting.

Diplomatically she continued, "You can join your companion in the tent, if you like." At his incredulous look she answered, "It's a lot bigger on the inside."

"It's not that Miss ...? " the feline began, :I mean no offense, but both that tent, and your group reek of Death. How do I know you do not have any malevolent plans for me and my ward?"

Harry stared incredulously for a moment. She had considered this possibility of this argument for a brief second, but she had decided to trust her instincts about it.

"Very well", she managed, "I would not mind swearing a Vow in this matter. Would that suffice?" Tigerius eyed her for a second, before conceding.

"It is a beginning", he answered, "But how do I know I can trust your word?"

Harry's lips twitched momentarily. "Because Magic itself would witness and enforce it.", she replied, "I may not be capable of dying or losing my magic, due to my unique circumstances, "But it would still be rather painful for days as my body, soul and mind fight off the changes."

She conjured a muggle blocknote and pen, and began to write on it to figure out the right wording.

'I, *insert name*, swear on the highest cost that everything I've said so far was genuine. Neither I or my companions mean harm towards your companionship this day, -although we do retain the ability of self-defense-, nor will I share what we talk about to anyone outside of our respective companionships. So mote it be.'

She showed it to Tigerius, who approved. A few minutes later the literal deed was done. Almost immediately Hermione began to talk excitedly to the Feline, trying to find out more about him, this world and the inhabitants. She sighed.

This was going to be a long evening.

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AN: corrected a sentence, the original sentence was, "...Neither I or my companions mean no hard towards...", it's a small mistake to make, but one that should be, and is already corrected ^^


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** longer than most of my chapters, but still dreadfully short. Kudos to people who recognize the cross-overed world, and perhaps even the characters themselves.

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own either of the franchises this story is based on.

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The first thing Solate grogily noticed when she came to, was that her body hurt.

The first actual thought going through her mind was something along the lines of 'Why does this keep happening again and again and well, a lot more too...'

She sighed, "This never happens to big sis Alka", she muttered sullenly. "Or everyone else for that matter. "

Well, safe for Suikane, but it has got to be annoyingly hard to drag around a cannon that size and weight while in midair. This was neither here nor there though, as she still didn't know where she was, and where Cuddles had disappeared too.

This, in her mind, was an unacceptable situation. If only because big sis Alka would go in her scary motherhen mode.

It was, only after that thought, that noise filtered through her dazed mind. Huh… Voices? Is that where Cuddles went?

She groaned, trying to get up, and inadvertently drew more attention towards herself.

"She's.. wa…ke..p..ev..yone…"

She could feel Cuddles' presence now, and it moved closer. There were some more entities out there, but it didn't ressemble anything she had felt she simply decided to dub the them 'Stranger'.

There were four of them, and all of them looked humany, although they didn't quite feel that way. It was hard to explain really, but it was as if their center of being were on a slightly different wavelength, causing interference. What was practically palpable though, was the sense of Death radiating from them.

This really wasn't her day.

"Would you leave me here, if I pretend to be dead?", she asked hopefully.

The snorts she heard were an answer in and by itself.

"I like this one", one of the males exclaimed. The other, blonde one merely rolled his eyes and said, "You would, wouldn't you? Neither of you seem to bright."

This caused the black-haired –and hey, she kind of looked a lot like Solate herself- woman to reply, "Down Draco… No need to agitate the locals". The bushy-haired one just sniffed, but did send a glare in the blond's direction.

The blond, Draco it seemed, merely shrugged, "Hey, it broke the ice, didn't it?"

And strangely enough, it did.

For a moment everyone just stared at each other.

"So", Solate began cheerfully, "Who are you?" The others were slightly stunned by her question and the way she asked it. It was one hell of a moodswing., after all.

Hermione broke the ice, "It would be polite to introduce yourself first", she offered. Solate rolled her eyes,

"Like you didn't get that answer from Cuddles", she said cheekily.

Hermione looked at the group, "Cuddles?", she asked.. Tigerius Ceasar nonchalantly tried to look the other way, but was failing miserably.

"Yes", Solate nodded with a straigth, solemn face. "He's really cuddly, and his fur is soft. Therefore he is Cuddles."

"But anyway, I'm Solate. There, you have my name, could I now know yours?", she asked, while almost immediately switched to bouncing in excitement again.

Tigerius send a long-suffering look their way, one that practically screamed that one mournful question.

'Do you see what I've got to deal with? Do. You. See?'

Nevertheless, Harry spoke up, "These are Hermione Weasly-Granger, Ron Weasly and Draco Malfoy, my lieutenants, And my name is Harlequin Potter, although I'd prefer if you called my Harry or Harley, really. My friends and I decided to go on vacation, and the spell that we used for it landed us here, in the middle of where-ever this is.

"Cactakara Forest", Cu… Tigerius Ceasar repeated helpfully.

"Right…"


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** I am tired. And wet. And totally not in the mood to rewrite these chapters into a single longer one, like I had originally planned.

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**Disclaimer: I** don't own any of the recognizable parts of this story.

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"It's scary how much alike they are", Ron remarked.

The reason for this statement was the behaviour of his friend, and the girl they had found. Not only did she look like harry's mini-me, but even their actions seemed to be synchronized in some ways.

Both girls overheard him, stopped walking and tilted their head in aforementioned synch.

"You are right", Hermione admitted at this display, "It IS a bit creepy..."

"It is also within hearing range", Harry called cheerfully, while Solate looked down to her fidgeting hands, not sure how to reply. If she was with THE others she would have added to the banter, but while she was quite open to everyone, it was naturally a hell of a lot less with strangers.

Nevertheless, she wasn't going to let a lost group of people stay lost, no matter how suspicious, and despite Alka's fervent warnings about stranger danger.

There were quite honestly very, very few things that would be worse than she had gone through before, and while the group did have something about them that set of her warning bells, it had little to do with their attitude or actions, and more with the fact that they felt like... Well... quite a bit MORE than most humans... or less. If that made any sense.

She had offered to help them to Navea, one of the largest cities of the continent, and they were very nearly there. She could have simply teleported them to Brevis, and led them through the Warp Portal to said destination, but she wasn't quite done observing them yet.

She may have trusted them enough to leave herself mostly open, but not enough to just drop them off in the heart of the main trading hub without second thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the recognizable franchises in this and future stories

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Alkahestry, more commonly known as Alka, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in what was a mix of irritation and exasperation.

"Solate, what have I told you about bringing home strays?", she asked, her tone dry.

The girl in front of her looked everywhere but Alka's eyes.

"B... But, they were lost...", Solate protested, "Like really, really not of this world lost... And they were nice and only slightly suspicious. They c..could have died in that forest... "

Alka gave her a Look, trying to keep the expletives from escaping.

"Sola... Somehow I don't think Death is any problem to them..."

The girl in front of her perked up, "So they're like Envoys them..."

This exclamation set both groups on edge.

"No", Alka deadpanned, although she was panicking slightly behind that pokerface. "Gaia is life itself, and she doesn't like to let go of her chosen Envoys, whether it be of natural courses or not. Your strays are the opposite, deriving their powers from Death itself, if I'm not mistaken."

At this point Ron couldn't stay silent any longer, "How the bloody hell does everyone keep figuring this out?", he asked, drawing this 'Alka's' attention to the group.

"It's a gift", she replied, her face continueing to be as blank as it was before., before elaborating."A sense that comes to everyone sufficiently in touch with Gaia. Whether they are from Azuria, Aura Kingdom or Pandemonium."

"Nyah", Solate suddenly piped up, for no apparent reason..

Alka wanted to facepalm, of all the times for that vocal tic of hers to play off...

'Friend or not, I am sooooo getting her guildleader for this...', she decided silently.

She outwardly smiled however, "Or them", she agreed. "Say, why don't you go look for Suikane or Gehenna? I'm sure they are willing to spend some time with you.

She turned to stare at the strays, the meaning behind her look quite clear.

"In the meantime, I would like to have a long, nice conversation with your new _friends_..."


End file.
